Chatterjee & Dechter: GOP’s Hiring Freeze Would Chill Growth

By Pratap Chatterjee and Gadi Dechter
Posted on October 12, 2010, 9:00 am

The GOP’s “Pledge to America” has some traditional conservative allies wishing Congressional Republicans would pledge themselves to more careful policymaking.

One part of the party’s agenda proposes a blanket nonsecurity hiring freeze — in the name of ensuring “that the public sector no longer grows at the expense of the private sector.” They might have first consulted the private sector, which for years has been clamoring for more federal workers to staff the Washington, D.C., agencies that issue patents, approve drugs, inspect food and generally reassure investors and entrepreneurs that America is a good place to do business.